Seattle Underground

The Seattle Underground is a pivotal part of the second Kolchak movie, The Night Strangler.

In the story
Carl Kolchak was introduced to the idea of the Seattle Underground when he was speaking to Louise Harper, and encountered Gladys Weems and Wilma Krankheimer. Gladys explained the historical context to Kolchak, which gave him the idea of checking the Underground for the mysterious strangler.

This turned out to be the lair of the Strangler, and Kolchak later found his secret lab down there.

Real-Life History
There is a real-life Seattle Underground that is similar to the one seen in The Night Strangler. After the great Seattle Fire destroyed a few dozen blocks of early Seattle, the city leaders decided to regrade the streets above the previous level, due to flooding and plumbing issues. The buildings that were buried are still there today, although only small parts of it are safe for guided tours.


 * The Wikipedia entry for the real Seattle Underground